Double Olympic bronze medallist Max Whitlock is set to increase the difficulty of his routines after retaining his all-around title at the British Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
The 21-year-old, who won team and pommel horse bronze at the London 2012 Olympics, claimed the men’s British all-around title with an overall score of 89.00 in Liverpool.
Daniel Purvis was second with 87.200 and Daniel Keatings third with 87.050 and, with a busy year ahead, Whitlock is about to make things that little bit harder for himself.
“My competition went really well and I managed to recover from the little mistake I made on high bar earlier on in the competition,” he said.
“The British Championships means a lot to me and to retain that title is really great, the crowd support really helped me get through the routines.
“The next few months I am going to try and up my difficulty a bit in preparation for the Europeans, Commonwealth Games and the World Championships.”
Rebecca Tunney, the smallest, youngest and lightest Brit to earn selection for London 2012, meanwhile took the women’s British all-around title and admitted to proving a point to herself with victory.
“It is amazing to be the British champion again, especially with not competing last year,” said 17-year-old, 4ft 10ins Tunney.
“I just wanted to come out and prove to myself that even with my injuries last year I could still come out and give my best performance and that’s what I did.
“It means so much to me to be in front of a local Liverpool crowd and take the title; it’s a very proud moment.”
© Sportsbeat 2014